Blog and Podcast for all enthusiastic Theory of Knowledge (TOK) students and teachers (and anybody else!)as a source of inspiration. TOK is an epistemology and critical thinking course offered by the International Baccalautreate (IB) Organization. It's a course in practical and applied philosophy.

I found the following video, which I would like to recommend as an introduction into Ethics. It is from Harvard University, the lecturer is Michael Sandel. The lecture covers Utilitarianism and the Categorical Imperative and is very understandable. The lecture is very interactive and engaging (both for the audience and for the person viewing the video). The video addresses the classical ethical dilemma of a trolley which is about to crash into a group of 5 people. Would you steer the trolley to a side track on which there is only one person standing?

In this edition we will have a look at ethical dilemmas. What are they? What are some different opinions in making an ethical choice? There are several schools of thought in finding a solution to an ethical dilemma. The consequentialist school maintains that actions are either moral or immoral depending on the outcome (the consequence) of the action. An action is morally right, if it results in an increase in the overall happiness for the people. The deontological school states that the outcome of an action is irrelevant. It is the action itself that is moral or immoral. Lying, according to this school, is always wrong, regardless of the outcome. There are arguments for and against each one of these schools of thought.